diff --git a/pkg/clusterfile/decoder.go b/pkg/clusterfile/decoder.go
index 4c6b3e545cb..7979d100662 100644
--- a/pkg/clusterfile/decoder.go
+++ b/pkg/clusterfile/decoder.go
@@ -85,6 +85,15 @@ func decodeClusterFile(reader io.Reader, clusterfile *ClusterFile) error {
 			if err := yaml.Unmarshal(ext.Raw, &cfg); err != nil {
 				return fmt.Errorf("failed to decode %s[%s]: %v", metaType.Kind, metaType.APIVersion, err)
 			}
+
+			if cfg.Spec.Path == "" {
+				return fmt.Errorf("failed to decode config %s, config path is empty", cfg.Name)
+			}
+
+			if cfg.Spec.Data == "" {
+				return fmt.Errorf("failed to decode config %s, config data is empty", cfg.Name)
+			}
+
 			clusterfile.configs = append(clusterfile.configs, cfg)
 		case constants.PluginKind:
 			var plu v1.Plugin
diff --git a/pkg/config/config.go b/pkg/config/config.go
index c81edca1dca..ee4e51cd793 100644
--- a/pkg/config/config.go
+++ b/pkg/config/config.go
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ func (c *Dumper) Dump(configs []v1.Config) error {
 	}
 
 	if err := c.WriteFiles(configs); err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("failed to write config files %v", err)
+		return fmt.Errorf("failed to dump config files %v", err)
 	}
 	return nil
 }